Behind Closed Doors
by Mylari
Summary: In response to the KAEX broken challenge... Keith and Allura find themselves locked in a storage room alone.
1. Behind Closed Doors

Disclaimer: WEP owns everything except the voices in my head.

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"Oh there you all are! Keith, would you help me for a few minutes?" Allura asks as she enters the lounge and finds the four male Voltron Force members relaxing on the couch.

"Sure, Princess. What did you need?" He stands up and heads toward the blonde haired beauty.

"I wanted to get some boxes out of the storeroom and was hoping you'd help me carry them."

"Of course. Lead the way." He bows before her and indicates that she should precede him.

Keith follows the princess and once inside the storage room, he helps her shift boxes around until she finds the ones she's seeking. "OK, so just these two then?"

"Yes, can you bring them to my room for me please?"

He bends down, lifts the boxes effortlessly and heads towards the door. Allura gets there before him and presses the release button. "Uh-oh"

"What's wrong, Princess?"

"The door won't open. I think it's broken. We need to call for help. Did you bring your communicator, Keith?"

"Me? No… Didn't think I'd need it inside the castle."

"Then I guess we're stuck here until someone comes looking for us…" She sighs and sinks to the floor.

He sets the boxes down and sits next to her with his back against the wall. "C'mon, is it really that bad to be stuck in here with me?"

"No, I didn't mean it like that. I like spending time with you. I'm just not excited about being trapped. Though if I have to be trapped, I can't think of anyone I'd rather be trapped with." She turns and smiles at him shyly.

Keith chuckles quietly. "I can't think of anyone I'd rather be trapped with either."

"So what should we do while we wait to be rescued?"

"Hmmm… Well we can look in the boxes you wanted. What's in them anyway?"

"Oh, just some old books and art supplies and things. Nothing to keep us entertained for long." She stands up and paces the small room.

Keith pulls his knees up to his chest so that she doesn't trip over his legs. He sits quietly and watches her as she walks back and forth. Leaning his head against the wall, a small smile pulls up the corners of his mouth as his eyes follow her progress.

When she reaches the far end of the room, she turns and sees the expression on his face. "What are you smiling about?"

"You."

She raises an eyebrow at him questioningly. "Care to elaborate, Captain?"

He swallows and rubs the back of his neck nervously. "Well… Errr… I was just thinking to myself…" His voice falls to a barely audible whisper, "That you're cute when you're frustrated." He can feel the heat of a blush rising on his cheeks.

Allura strides back to where he is sitting and slides down to a seated position facing him. "Sorry, I didn't catch that last part. What were you thinking?" Her voice lowers as she asks him to repeat himself.

"I really shouldn't be saying this to you, but I was thinking that you're cute when you're frustrated…" He breaks eye contact with her and stares at the toes of his boots.

She sits and looks at the man before her for a few seconds before responding in a husky whisper, "Really? You think so?"

He nods and turns back to face her. "I think you're cute all the time actually. But I really shouldn't have said anything. You're a princess after all. I'm just a pilot."

"Not to me you're not. You should know by now that nobility means very little to me. And you're not just a pilot. You're captain of the Voltron Force. You're responsible for the safety of everyone on this planet, not to mention all the other planets that we help defend. You're not *just* anything!"

He smiles at her. "Heh, no pressure there…"

She reaches out and playfully taps his chest with her index finger. "You know that's not how I meant it, Keith." Her eyes move up from the point where her finger is resting on his chest and lock onto his. They sit there in silence for a few minutes just gazing at each other.

Slowly they both lean forward, closing the distance between them. Their eyes close as the space between them disappears and their lips meet. The finger on Keith's chest withdraws and reappears with reinforcements on the back of his neck. Allura's other hand slips into his hair as the kiss intensifies. Keith's arms wrap around the princess's waist as his hands explore her back with gentle caresses.

Outside the door, a group of pastel mice jump around and high-five each other excitedly before slipping back into the door panel where they reconnect the wiring. Wriggling back out of the door one mouse gives a thumbs-up to the others before they all run off.

Unaware of the activity outside the room, Keith and Allura slowly separate. "Sorry, Princess. I shouldn't have done that. It won't happen again."

"Yes it will. I'm glad we did that. I've been wondering what that would be like for a long time."

His voice falls to a deep murmur "In that case…" He looks into her eyes and reaches up, cupping her chin in his hand, before pulling her in for another kiss. His hand slides along her jaw until he cradles her head, his thumb stroking her ear. The princess's hands roam along the muscles of Keith's back as the couple lose themselves in their embrace.

In the hallway, three men follow a group of mice to a closed doorway. "You're sure they're in there, Chitter?" Pidge looks to one of the mice questioningly. He is answered by excited squeaking and pantomiming.

"So whadda ya think they're doing in there?" Hunk looks to the other two men with him. "And how do ya think they got stuck in there in the first place?"

"Well I know what *I'd* want to do if I were locked in a room with the princess." Lance wiggles his eyebrows at his companions. "But this is Keith we're talking about, so they're probably organizing the boxes in there or something."

Pidge removes the door panel and looks at it for a second. "OK, these two wires were crossed causing the door to lock behind them. How do you suppose that happened?" He quickly fixes the wiring and replaces the panel. "That should do it."

Lance reaches past Pidge and pushes the button to open the door. All three men are shocked see the princess and their captain locked in a passionate embrace. With a smirk on his face, Lance clears his throat. Keith and Allura jump apart at the sudden noise and attempt to straighten their clothing. Keith stands up and offers his hand to the princess in order to gently help her up.

"So it looks like you two put your time to good use. How'd you get trapped in there anyway?" Lance snickers as he eyes his two guilty looking teammates.

"The door lock must be broken. It worked fine when we came in, but it wouldn't unlock and open when we tried to leave. We'll have to get it added to the maintenance list." Keith pointedly ignores his second in command's ribbing.

"It should be fine now, Keith. Two of the wires in the locking mechanism were crossed. It looks like someone tampered with it. But who and why this room?"

"I don't know, and I really don't feel like investigating it right now." Keith bends down and picks up the boxes that he and Allura originally came in to get.

Later that night, Allura opens one of the boxes that Keith left on the desk in her room. Reaching in, she pulls out a plate containing a large wedge of cheese. Placing it on the floor, she whispers, "Thank you. The plan was a complete success. Enjoy the cheese! I've got to go meet Keith!" Giggling, the princess heads back out into the castle hallway.


	2. Back Behind Closed Doors

Disclaimer: WEP owns everything except the voices in my head...

Author's note: The challenge called for a single chapter story, however Cubbie asked for another chapter telling about where Allura was going to meet Keith and what they were going to do. This is what I came up with...

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As the door slides shut behind her, Allura walks purposefully through the castle corridors on her way to meet her captain. She tries to maintain a serious expression on her face as she travels, but the princess is entirely too giddy over the success of her earlier plan to get some time alone with Keith. A few minutes later, she arrives in the castle gardens and spies the man she has come to meet. His back is to her, so she slowly makes her way closer to him as quietly as she can. When she finds herself right behind him she reaches up to cover his eyes with her hands only to find herself trapped in his embrace.

"Now, Princess, did you really think you could sneak up on me unnoticed?" His voice is quiet and deep, meant for her ears alone. A playful smile is on his face as he tightens his hold on her and leans in for a soft, gentle kiss.

When the kiss ends, she giggles and rests her head against his chest. "Well, it was worth a try, wasn't it? I guess we'll have to spend more time practicing my stealth maneuvers. You never know when being sneaky might pay off…"

"Uh-huh, sure, Princess. And just what do you need to be sneaky for? Other than trying to catch me off guard when I am here for a planned meeting with you that is…" He raises his eyebrow at her and smirks.

"I can be sneaky, Keith. I was able to trick you earlier… today…" Her voice trails off as she realizes what she has just said. "Uh-oh…" As she watches his eyes narrow and his hold on her loosens.

"What do you mean you were able to trick me earlier? What are you talking about?" His tone moves from deep and husky to that of the no-nonsense commander of Voltron.

Princess Allura sighs and turns away from him. "Please don't be upset, Keith."

He takes a step back and folds his arms across his chest as waits for the rest of her confession. "Until I hear the rest of it, I can't promise anything. What did you do, Princess?"

"Well… The whole storeroom thing was a setup… I just wanted to get some time alone with you uninterrupted…"

"The storeroom… So the door wasn't really locked?"

"Well, yes and no. I had a deal with the mice. Once we were inside, they were supposed to enter the door panel and disable the unlock function… Then once I got you to tell me how you felt and kiss me, they were supposed to reset the mechanism to look like a malfunction and get the others to free us…" She looks up and tries to read his expression, but he is just staring blankly at her.

"What about the boxes?"

"Huh? What about them?"

"What was really in them?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that they didn't weigh nearly enough to hold books and art supplies like you claimed. What was really in them?"

"Oh… You noticed that… Of course you noticed that…" She sighs before continuing. "One box held a couple of dresses from my closet and the other had a plate of cheese for the mice and one of my pink throw pillows…" Her confession complete, she begins examining a nearby flower in great detail.

As he lets out a sudden loud burst of laughter, she turns quickly to look at him. His amused peals are not what she expects and seem to be beyond his ability to stop. Once he finally gains control again and calms his breathing, Keith smiles at the woman before him. Looking at her, he shakes his head. "No wonder you didn't want to open them when we were stuck in there. You're a piece of work, Princess. Do you know that?" He closes the distance between them again and wraps his arms around her once more. Holding her tightly to him, he plants a soft kiss on the top of her head and rests his cheek on her hair.

"So, does that mean you forgive me for the deception?"

"Heh, yeah, I forgive ya. But you didn't have to go to all that trouble ya know. You could have just asked to speak to me alone and asked me how I felt about you."

"I could have, but be honest with me Keith, would you have been as willing to just admit how you felt or would you have evaded the question and left?"

"Alright, I get the message, Princess. You're probably right. I guess you do know me pretty well by now, huh?" His voice softens again as he kisses her tenderly.

"Probably no better than you know me…" she whispers softly looking deeply into his sable gaze. "I don't regret what I did, Keith. It was worth the risk."

He chuckles softly as he studies her face. "Yeah, it definitely was worth it. But you do know that you will have to be punished for tricking me like that…"

A look of panic flickers across her face as she tries to guess what he could be planning. "Keith… You're making me nervous."

"Why? Are you afraid of me, Allura?"

"No, I'm not scared of you… I'm afraid of what you are planning for me though…"

"Hmmm… Can't have that now can we?" He suddenly bends at the knees and sweeps her up into his arms, eliciting a small squeak from the princess. He turns and starts carrying her off.

"Where are you taking me?"

"You'll see…"

He strides back into the castle makes his way purposefully to the storeroom they had been in earlier. He opens the door and pauses long enough to program a series of commands into the keypad before walking into the room. The panel slides shut quietly behind them as he sets her down. Looking around she realizes that all of the boxes have been stacked against the walls of the room and a large blanket spread in the open space created. A picnic basket and a bouquet of flowers rest on the blanket and some softly glowing lanterns are placed among the boxes.

After taking in the state of the room she looks back up into his face. "Keith…" He silences her with a finger on her lips.

"Shhh… When Pidge and I came back to try and figure out what caused the door to malfunction, we found some cheesy mouse size footprints behind the panel. We cornered Cheddar and he told us everything. So I decided that since you wanted me alone in here, I'd at least make it a nicer experience this time." He sits on the blanket and pulls her down next to him. Reaching over he picks up the flowers and hands them to her with a slight blush on his face. "These are for you, Princess."

"Oh, Keith, they're beautiful. Thank you." She buries her nose in the bouquet and inhales deeply.

Opening the flap on the basket, he reaches in and pulls out a plate of strawberries that have been dipped in chocolate, a bottle of honey nectar, and two glasses. Her eyes widen and a smile spreads across her face.

"Are you hungry, Princess?" His voice is barely more than a husky whisper.

She nods silently, not trusting herself to speak.

He reaches down, picks up a berry and holds it before her lips. Her mouth opens and he holds the candy covered fruit while she takes a bite. He then takes a bite himself before leaning over and kissing her. They share a few more berries and open the bottle of nectar, sipping their drinks between kisses.

"I think this is the best punishment I've ever experienced, Keith."

"I'm glad you think so. I'm enjoying it myself." He takes her glass and places it next to his on the floor beside the blanket before leaning back and pulling her against him. Her eyes move up to the ceiling of the room and she blinks, not quite sure if she can believe what she is seeing.

"Keith, did you do that to the ceiling?"

"What's a midnight picnic without stars?" She can hear the smile in his voice before she twists in his arms until she is facing him. Tilting her face up, she accepts his waiting kiss. As their embrace deepens all thoughts of the world outside the storeroom are forgotten.


End file.
